A Father's Guilt
by Moonsetta
Summary: Bishop had a new plan to destroy the turtles with the help of a new invention of his. All he needed was a labRAT.


Wow, it's another one-shot! (Gasp!)

Anyways, I don't own TMNT.

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The elderly rat stared down at his overlapped hands that remained still on the small table in front of him. His eyes remained in that one spot. If his mind would have been focused on the world around him he would have heard the whispers outside his door.

Beyond the soft glowing candlelight of the room and the small Japanese style sliding door, outside, two figures stood close, whispering quietly.

"You go talk to him."

"No you."

"What could I say to Master Splinter?"

"I don't know, something."

"What are you two doing?" a new voice asked.

The two figures jumped at the voice and turned around both speaking in unison in nervous voices, "Hey bro."

The third figure frowned and stepped closer to his brothers, "He's still in there?"

"Yeah," the two shorter figures mumbled before glancing back through the small crack in the door.

"Is he resting?" the slightly taller of the shorter figures asked, motioning to the door across the hall.

"Yes, he's sleeping for now. So," the third figure mumbled, gesturing to the door they were standing by, "Have either of you talked to him?"

"Why don't you go talk to him?" the first figure with a high voice asked.

"Why me?"

"You're older," was the explanation.

The oldest of the three turtle group sighed and pushed the others aside before stepping inside the room.

"Yes, my son?" the rat spoke to the lone teen mutated turtle behind him.

"Master Splinter, why are you still in here? Shouldn't you be in there with him?"

The gray furred rat only allowed his head to fall forward slightly, glancing at the item in his lap, a ninja mask, the color speaking too loudly to him and reminding him of too much.

"Master Splinter," his son said again, "It wasn't your fault. You always tell us not to feel guilty when he takes a hit for us."

If he was in his prime, Splinter would probably be ranting at his son. Yes, he had told his sons many times to not feel guilty when their brother took a hit for them but this was different. His son had not taken a hit for him but took it from him. Receiving silence as the only answer the teenager glanced across the room where a sword with a black wrapped handle was snapped in two and still stained with blood where it laid in the corner.

"You didn't need to do that," the turtle said, gesturing to the broken sword, "He'll want to see you when he wakes up, you know?"

Nothing, but silence.

The turtle glanced at the floor. He wasn't even sure why he was there. Rarely did he stand up to anyone. This was his brother's job.

"Master Splinter please. He isn't going to blame you. He wouldn't, no matter what happened."

"Following a blinded heart is no better than being blind," the rat responded.

"What?" his son questioned, "Do you think we're just going to leave because our enemy succeeded for one moment?"

The rat sighed and glanced back at his son, his hands migrating away from the table to grasp the colored mask in his lap. The turtle sighed with a deep frown as he saw the hidden emotions in his father's eyes.

"Come on sensei," he pleaded, "He'll want to- no, he'll need to see you."

The elderly rat looked back at the bright mask in his hands and then trembled as he set his hands back on the table.

"Sensei, please. Look, so Bishop got a little lucky. We destroyed that device. He isn't going to take control of you again. He won't take control of any of us. It wasn't your fault."

Splinter glared at his hands and frowned deeply, "Only the hands of an evil demon could do such harm to a child."

"Sensei, he's ok. He's sleeping right now, but he's ok. He'll have to relearn a few things because of that but, he's a fast learner. He'll be ok. You have to believe that sensei."

"Please, refrain from calling me that."

The turtle glared at his father, "You **are **my sensei and I **will **call you that until the end of time."

"Please exit this room."

The turtle stood his ground, "I'm not leaving unless you come with me to see my brother, **your **son."

Silence…

The turtle sighed, letting the burden fall with his shoulders and walked towards his father, standing behind him and raising a hand to rest on his shoulder as he spoke carefully and slowly, "If you don't see him when he wakes up he's going to think he was too late and that you're not here at all. If you won't go for yourself, then go for him."

With that the turtle exited the room shaking his head. That was obviously another failure he could add to the list he had managed to build that day. He glanced around his home and made his way to the room where he could here muffled voices talking behind the closed door. He knocked and the voices grew quiet. The door opened and the turtle was allowed to slip in. Once inside the room, his eyes went to where one of his brothers moved away from closing the door and sat down in a chair by the small brown desk. His second brother was sleeping with his head pillowed on the side of the small cot where his forth brother was lying awake and staring at the ceiling.

"Bro?" he asked and walked to his injured brother's side.

The injured turtle glanced over at him and smiled a bit before pushing himself into a sitting position, "Are you ok?"

The standing turtle rolled his eyes and smiled humorously before sighing, "You're up for two minutes and already you're worrying about us?"

"Sorry, bad habit."

"I'm glad you're ok bro."

They were all fifteen now, but they were much closer than normal brothers so a hug here and there wasn't too unusual and the turtle in the chair made no comment as he watched them. No doubt this small thing would change his brother's life dramatically, all of their lives really but he'd read and heard stories, people still managed to do amazing things and live normal lives. Of course, all of it could've ultimately been a lot worse than it turned out.

"Where's Master Splinter?" said the turtle on the cot as he pulled away from the hug with his brother, "I-I made it in time. Didn't I?"

The standing turtle sighed, "Yeah, Master Splinter's ok. At least, he's physically ok."

"What are you talking about?"

Another sigh escaped the standing turtle, "Well, he feels guilty."

"But why? I can live with this," the worried turtle said frantically gesturing to his side.

"I tried talking to him, but I think he's determined to stay angry at himself."

"You guys destroyed the device right?" the injured turtle asked, looking to the turtle sitting in the chair a few feet away.

Said turtle nodded, "Don't worry, we took care of it. Bishop won't be doing that again."

"Good," the weakened turtle said with a sigh, "I don't want this to happen to me again, or to anyone else."

He yawned and lowered himself back onto the cot, letting his head sink deeply into the pillow, "I'll talk to Master Splinter in the morning."

The standing turtle smiled at the scene of his brother finally falling into a non drugged sleep and looked around. He turned to where his other brother was sitting in the chair.

"Hey Don-" he stopped when he realized his purple masked little brother was asleep.

He smiled again and rolled his eyes before turning to find his baby brother still asleep with his head pillowed on the cot at his injured brother's side.

"Oh Mikey," he mumbled and knew his baby brother would be there until their brother was back on his feet.

They'd all need to help him now, more than they ever did. With a last smile at his sleeping brothers he turned to a small cabinet in the room and pulled out three blankets. He draped a violet shaded wool blanket over his little brother and a bright orange quilt over his baby brother. Turning to where his last brother slept peacefully for the first time in days he carefully tucked a small white sheet around him. He reached up and lightly stroked his brother's forehead. This would be a difficult time for all of them, but most difficult on him. He pulled back, then let his hand lightly run over his brother's right arm and then glanced over on his other side, where his left arm should've been.

He took a cautious glance around the room. He was the only one conscious, so he leaned down and left a light kiss on his brother's forehead, "Sleep tight bro," he mumbled before slipping out of the room and into the dark hallway.

A sudden stirring down the hall made him glance up. His father was standing at the end of the hallway with his eyes downcast, the bright color of his injured son's ninja mask held tightly in his hands.

"They're all sleeping now."

"I know," the rat whispered, " I must know, of my son."

"He doesn't blame you. He's glad you're ok."

The elderly rat glanced up and nodded, "Thank you."

The turtle glanced up and down at the ceiling and floor uneasily multiple times before taking a deep breath, making his way down the hall and kneeling in front of his sensei.

"What is it?" the rat asked.

"It wasn't your fault," the turtle said calmingly, "No one blames you. My brothers and I love you no less because of it," here, he paused and then looked strait into Splinter's eyes, "Father."

It was only moments later that the turtle found himself in an embrace with his father, allowing the tears to fall onto his shoulder and for the elderly rat to lean on him.

"It's all right father," the turtle whispered, "He's going to be ok."

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No idea whatsoever why I wrote this! Guess who was hurt, Leo or Raph?

Here's a hint…

NOT TELLING!

Ha! Ha!

Please review? Reviews make me so happy!

~Moonsetta


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